Walsh then fired a single bullet from his service weapon, hitting Hambric.

Hambric was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. The shooting occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in the 500 block of West Seventh Street, police said.

Greg Sanders and Susan Sapp, who live in the West End neighborhood, said they were sleeping when they heard a gunshot.

“Within a few seconds, I heard sirens,” Sapp said.

Sanders said he eventually saw 30 to 40 police vehicles in the area.

“I saw a mountain bike and a helmet lying the grass,” Sanders said.

Sanders said he feels safe in his neighborhood despite the shooting.

The series of events that led to the shooting began Sunday when officers were called to an accident involving a single vehicle at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Carl Russell Avenue.

The only person in the vehicle ran from the scene, and witnesses gave police a description of the man. Police determined that the vehicle had been reported stolen in Chapel Hill.

An officer spotted a man in the vicinity of the accident who matched the suspect’s description, police said. The officer questioned the suspect, and the man ran toward downtown.

Several officers chased the man.

Walsh eventually encountered the man, later identified as Hambric, in the woods next to West Seventh Street and attempted to arrest him. Hambric then assaulted Walsh, and Walsh shot Hambric.

Investigators haven’t indicated whether Hambric was armed or provided any other details about the assault.

Lewis Handy, a resident of Crystal Towers Apartments, said he believes the police account of the shooting, but said he wasn’t surprised by it.

“I’ve been living in Winston-Salem all of my life, and I’ve seen people shot by the police,” Handy said. “If the police are scared, then they grab their guns real quick.”

Phillip Whitehead, who also lives in Crystal Towers, said he doesn’t believe the police version of events.

“The police are always down here doing something because they are always giving this building a black eye,” Whitehead said, referring to the Crystal Towers apartment complex.

Investigators have gathered evidence in the area where officers first encountered Hambric that linked him to the stolen vehicle. Hambric was on parole for a 2009 robbery conviction in Kentucky, a state corrections record shows.

Walsh, a 17-year veteran, has served in the police department’s downtown bike patrol division for about two years. He has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.

SINNER

tunamelt

John

For “no reason?” how about for the suspect not complying with the officer and fighting the officer (which the suspect could have killed the officer)? If the officer got killed, then you would say “well the officer should have shot him”. Luckily the officer just needed to fire one shot…if he would have fired more than one shot, then you would be the one saying “why did he have to fire 10+ shots when 1 would have been enough?

chris

I love reading these comments like “shoulda been shot a long time ago”.Next week there will be yet another story where police shoot someone ,say it was self defense but cell phone video proves otherwise.All of sudden everyone is talking about “thug” cops.The fact is NO one knows and No one may ever know because the lone survivor is a LEO and the case is being investigated by guess who? another group of LEO’s.At the very least could we not all agree that the police should not be allowed to investigate the police? How many times do they actually find fault in one of their “brothers”?

John

chris

I was thinking of that case when I posted the comment.Initially he was fired but no charges filed.It was left up to the grandy jury to indict.The 1st time they failed to indict which somehow happens 95% of the time when its a civilian.What do you think would be the odds of the SBI finding the officer at fault if there had been no video? My guess is zero!

John

chris

Once upon a time there were citizens review boards that looked into things like this .Now is the SBI.Its the equivalent of having politicians investigate other politicians.We are all quite familiar with what happens when we allow that to take place.

chris

Also,do you remember the SBI scandal a few years back ? The retired FBI agents said that there didn’t seem to be any standardization within the SBI and that it also seemed that the SBI worked along side prosecutorstin testing evidence.That is the exact opposite of being independent.A representative from Greensboro suggested have a totally independent lab but the NC sheriffs association said that would hinder them in solving crimes so it never happened.I’m not sure it would reduce the chances of solving crime but having the ability to have fellow LEO’s test the evidence you want tested in the way you want it tested sure helps your side.